The costs of living with chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia and Lyme add up fast. I know a lot of you are struggling financially to even pay for household basics, so a few weeks ago, I published a list of low-cost treatments for fibromyalgia and chronic Lyme.

Donna Gregory Burch

As a followup to that article, I’m now doing a list of FREE resources that might be helpful in the management of these conditions. Please feel free to add your own free resources in the comments section below, so we can all learn from one another!

1. Affirmations – There’s a saying that goes something like, “If you hear something often enough, you will eventually believe it.” Well, that’s basically how positive affirmations work. I consider the late Louise Hayto be the pioneer of using affirmations for healing the mind and body. You can find her ground-breaking book, “You Can Heal Your Life,” at most libraries. There are also free affirmations on her website.

2. Diaphragmatic breathing – According to a report by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s Integrative Medicine Program, “Shallow breathing often accompanies stress, anxiety, and other psychological difficulties. This is typically a result of sympathetic over-arousal, commonly referred to as the ‘fight or flight response.'”

There’s some evidence that fibromyalgia is linked to a hyperactive stress response, so practices like diaphragmatic breathing may be helpful in calming the nervous system and managing overall symptoms. The Cleveland Clinic has a useful guide for learning diaphragmatic breathing here.

3. Earthing – Studies have shownwalking or sitting barefoot outside – called earthing or grounding – helps to reduce stress, pain and inflammation, and improves sleep because it allows the body to connect with the Earth’s surface electrons. This documentary covers the many health benefits of earthing.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been experimenting with earthing to see if it makes a difference in my fibro/Lyme symptoms. I’ve noticed I tend to feel better on days when I take a few minutes to sit outside and reconnect with the Earth. I’m sure the additional vitamin D from the sunshine is contributing to that feeling of wellbeing, too.

Earthing is free, but for those who don’t have access to the outdoors, there are earthing products on the market that give the same effect.

4. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) – Alright, I admit this is one of the more woo-woo items on the list. After all, how is tapping your fingers on your forehead and under your nose going to help anything? I understand the skepticism. I’m skeptical, too, but I have a few readers who are using EFT for symptom relief and swear by it. The link above will get you started, and there are plenty of free EFT videos on YouTube, including those specific to fibromyalgia and Lyme.

5. Fibromyalgia class – I’ve written a full article about CFIDS & Fibromyalgia Self Help’s low-cost fibromyalgia classes, but the organization also offers a free version covering symptom management, pacing, navigating relationships with chronic illness and helpful other topics.

6. Hot showers/baths – If you’re on municipal water, I know showers and baths aren’t technically free, but it’s pretty close. I’ve always found heat to be helpful in reducing overall achiness and soreness, and many others with chronic pain do, too. It’s amazing what a warm bath with some inexpensive Epsom salts can do.

7. Humor – When you’re in pain and feeling miserable, it’s easy to sink into an emotional funk, but I’ve found fixating on the negative just makes me feel even worse. On really bad days, humor in the form of funny movies/TV shows, standup comedians or silly pet videos are a good distraction.

8. Journaling – Fibromyalgia and Lyme both come with debilitating physical symptoms, but there’s also the mental and emotional impact of living with these conditions. Journaling helps to process those feelings in a safe way without the judgement of others. If you’re not into spilling your emotions on a page, it can still be helpful to keep a chronic illness journalto track symptoms, medication side effects, food reactions, bathroom habits and other information. This data may provide clues to guide future treatment.

9. Medication questions – Pharmacist Abimbola Farinde has partnered with the National Fibromyalgia Association to answer medication questions for free. You can submit your questions here.

10. Meditation – Multiple studies have shown meditation is helpful for managing chronic pain and stress. There are many free apps available but one of my favorites is the Meaning of Life Experimentcreated by Ashok Gupta. His app includes beautiful, inspiring videos, as well as daily meditations of varying lengths. I also really like Kelly Howell’s guided meditations, which are available on YouTube and though the Meditate.me app. One of my readers really likes Headspace, too.

Owning a pet definitely isn’t free because of the cost involved in providing food and other care. But if don’t have a companion animal of your own, I’m sure a neighbor, family member or your local animal shelter would be happy to volunteer their pets for some free cuddles and wet kisses.

14. Prescription assistance – For those who are struggling to pay for their medications, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance connects patients to prescription assistance programs for free.

17. Stretching – A lot of us avoid exercise because it can intensify our pain and other symptoms, but gentle stretching can be very helpful for relieving overall symptoms and improving mobility. My fibro friend Julie from Counting My Spoons has written a great post on the benefits of stretching. I also like this simple stretching routine from fibromyalgia specialist and fellow fibro warrior Dr. Ginevra Liptan.

18. Support groups – After my fibromyalgia diagnosis, I felt pretty isolated because none of my family or friends really understood what I was going through. During my darkest times, connecting with others through in-person and online support groups was a lifesaver for me. These kindred spirits didn’t mind if I whined about how bad I felt or shared the dumb thing I’d done because of brain fog. In addition to support, I also found valuable ideas for improving my symptoms. There are hundreds of fibromyalgia and Lyme support groups on Facebook – all of them free. I also like MyFibroTeam.com.

19. Walking – Agh, I know exercise is a sore subject – literally! – but we’ve all read study after study after study after study (and then some) that says people with fibromyalgia feel better when they exercise.

Unfortunately, most of us aren’t able to participate in traditional exercise programs because they’re too intense. But many of us can do gentle walking. The keyword here is gentle! The experts say to start slow and build distance and endurance over the time. Depending on one’s functionality, that might mean starting by walking a lap around the house or just going to the mailbox and back. There are health benefits even if you’re only able to walk for 5 minutes at the time.

20. Yoga – There’s no way I could leave yoga off the list. Yes, I know doing downward dogs and sun salutations can be downright painful, but yoga can be super gentle, too. For those with fibromyalgia and Lyme, I recommend Aroga Yoga’s YouTube channel. Kayla from Aroga Yoga has chronic fatigue, and has put together gentle yoga routines tailored for those with chronic illness. I really like this one.

Now it’s your turn: What are your favorite FREE tools or resources to help manage chronic illness?

Donna Gregory Burch was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2014 after several years of unexplained pain, fatigue and other symptoms. She was later diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Donna covers news, treatments, research and practical tips for living better with fibromyalgia and Lyme on her blog,FedUpwithFatigue.com. You can also find her onFacebook andTwitter. Donna is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared online and in newspapers and magazines throughout Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She lives in Delaware with her husband and their many fur babies.

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it is. The dose used in the study was 300 mg at bedtime. We use it frequently and the people we treat. in people using serotonin raising medications such as antidepressants, Savella, or Cymbalta, I generally limit the dose to 200 mg, and You should check with your physician. It can take six weeks to see the full effect, and can help sleep and pain as well as mood

Have anyone tried 5-htp for fibromyalgia symptoms ???? I’ve recently come across an article mentioning that this supplement should be helping with pain, low mood, stress, depression, anxiety and also a sleep ( http://brain-feed.com/can-5-htp-help-with-fibromyalgia-symptoms ) Sounds like a great thing which it’s worth trying…

Mindfulness is not safe for everyone. It has a 7% incidence of serious psychiatric side effects. For me it made my brain literally hurt – yes I know the brain has no pain receptors but central sensitisation, the cause of chronic pain does all kinds of rewiring of your neurological matrix.
Meditation I find incredibly lonely and yoga I have had to quit because my painful wrists won’t bear my body wait and there is too much of that required in yoga.
You can still life mindfully by not multitasking. That is basically what mindfulness is, it means “awareness”. Past yoga and psychoanalysis for my professional training (yep, cannot work any more which puts me in tears in a moment), pauses to cry….Please realise chronic pain states like mine are not fibro as I don’t have the fatigue symptoms but otherwise are all the same bio process of central sensitisation, an excellent patient guide to all pain states is at pain science.com with academic journals translated into plain English and advice on treatments that are effective, free and otherwise. Pain is about loss of a sense of safety by the Central Nervous System. You cannot think your way out of this, just change your life to maximise your sense of security and detach yourself from any harmful relationships.

Janice, I know your anger. My wife has fibro and lymes idsease. She hardly has the strength and will, to go out of the house. She worked hard until she was 45 years old. She suffers…….daily and sleeps little. One of her “best” comforts and purpose to stay here is actually our pet dog. She finds moments of comfort with him but, the peristent, out of control pain often makes her cry. Our family tries to comprehend our world that is not……so good but, if your not experiencing incurable, constant pain, they don’t comprehend the darkness.My wife was reduced by 66% on her medication that she has been on for over 10 years, 6 months ago.I am angry myself because of the inensitivity from DOT.GOV WE, the incurable pain patients should not have to be fghting such an asinine “policy” from the CDC. Blackmailing our physicians to reduce and refuse medication to those that they, our physicians know is improving life quality. Surely, goodness will come of this idiotic attempt at social “reform”. Everyone needs to hang in there, vent if you need too and relaize there are millions of more people that have been unwarrantedly, unsubstantiatedly had beneficial medication removed and reduced. DOT.GOV are people placed into a position to serve, not be served. No one wishes another to die from am “overdose” of opioids but, let’s get the positive side of the medication into the forum. Be angry, fight back, write your “officials”, make a noise. DOT.GOV has been voted into leadership positions to facilitate…….the pursut of life, liberty, and hapiness even with available medication.

I have a free resource for your readers: A theory of why they have the illness and how they can recover from it. http://oldpain2go.com/meandfm I know it works having helped about 250 people now on the road to recovery and I also am training others to do it – there are now 220 trained Practitioners.

Thank you for all the tips. But in the end , after any or all of these things you( I ) do to get through the day and sometimes night. Ones productitivity level still is a big fat zero. Like I wanna yoga it take long ass bath earth my body stay meditating in a dark as room , I’ve been there do this but the issue still remains . There are medications ( ones I was taking with a proven success ) that now the powers that be with hold from me for no reason other than my personal physician asked me to bring some of my rx back to him after I filled it . I refused but the head nurse heard his demand of me n turned my dr in . Great I was left no dr no one nada I suffer every damn day. I have nothing to show for my days of life. I’m not gonna pay any $ to govt now they can all kiss my ass. I’ve lost my family the love of my life I can’t do shit n the crap I’ve been put through you don’t even know. And that dr… He’s back w new practice as of over a month ago. But where am I . Ready for life to be over with. But I do appreciate all the effort you’ve put forth for those like me who struggle just as you do. Keep it coming. Take care

It has good content about conditions and treatments; exercises; meditations; logging; personalized insights; physician reports; and access to events in your area to meet others with similar conditions.